[Archived] Bentley

[FourLaneBlue]

We are undoubtedly going to miss him and he will be very difficult to replace. Hopefully we will be bringing in at least two quality players from the money we got for him. Bentley is a good player and I think he will do well for Spurs. To sell him for so much profit just 2 1/2 years after buying him shows just what a fantastic deal in the first place it was from Hughes.

[Karembeu]

That it, bentley is at last gone. All the best to him. He did well for us just as we did good to him. For sure he would not get a england cap if he was with arsenal. Perhapes not even regular under 21.

Now is time to look for a new right mid. Have a feeling Ince is going to put emerton there. Hope he would did well in that position. If we had a good right back, I don't mind this arrangment.

[Maverick]

Think it's sad that Bentley is leaving. He has served Blackburn good the time he has been here, and wish him good luck in his new club. Just now when they play us. Hopefully this is the last player in the starting 11 that is out the door for some time.

Emerton as a replacement could work short-term, but I do think we need to get in someone new in that position.

[Rovermatt]

Good riddance. What a classless twit. With any luck the club will use the money to buy some good players (not Keith Andrews) instead of say, re-surfacing the Ewood carpark or mending some shower heads in the visiting dressing room.

[S15]

With any luck the club will use the money to buy some good players (not Keith Andrews) instead of say, re-surfacing the Ewood carpark

Had you have had your wheels abused by the bumpy surface last year you might not be so quick to critisize the suggestion.

[philipl]

Massively disappointed by this sale.

The facts as I see them:

1) It is not about money for Bentley. He has signed a contract worth £7k a week LESS at Spurs than he was offered at Ewood.

2) Bentley also decided to forego about £600K by refusing to take the payrise Rovers offered him in his new contract in February.

3) Massive step backwards for Rovers on the playing front. Without Bentley we are a bottom half club.

4) Villa are leading the way with the treatment of Barry- I do not understand why Rovers simply did not brazen it out the same way with Bentley especially as £7m of the fee is heading straight out to Arsenal.

5) I have no idea how a Manager as raw as Ince can now turn a probable £15m+ available to him into flesh and blood capable of propelling Rovers back into Europe.

6) It seems Ince has no idea how he is going to do that either.

7) Sparky's present to Rovers for being given a chance to manage in the EPL was his personal relationship which delivered Bellamy. Ince's gift is Keith Andrews apparently. There is nothing else to be said at this stage.

[21 Rover]

Confirmed to the stock exhange so these must be the figures.

£15m + £2m add-ons - source BBC sport

[budha]

http://www.londonstockexchange.com/LSECWS/...&source=RNS

£15M + £2M according to the Tottenham's stock exchange announcement.

[PAFELL]

Absolutely spot on. Failure to back Hughes equates to a lack of ambition by Williams and his cronies. Indeed, a lack of ambition at the club is why Hughes left, and why Bentley and Friedel left as well.

Football did not begin in 1992. As someone so eager to harp on about the bad old days prior this particular year, you should be aware of this. I won't be going to White Hart Lane with David Bentley because I support Blackburn Rovers. Criticise David Bentley all you want, but at least the lad has ambition and has gone to a club with ambition.

You are right football did not start in 1992 - but any club can only operate with the resources that are available. personally I believe that Rovers have always matched their ambitions to what resources are available. Today we complaign about the low attendances - but it is these that has increased since 1992 - when the money from Jack Walker came in - the attendance grew - many glory hunters.

I suggest that in the past it is the supporters who have lacked ambition in Rovers, which therefore held the club back. When Rovers were in the lower divisions where was the support? 4, 5 6000 gates during those days. Sadly supporters often only support their club when it is doing well - but not when times are hard, even though that is the time when the club needs the support all the more.

Rovers do have ambition, any club wants success as do the supporters, but without the required resources what can a club do?

Good to know you are not going to white fart lane and will continue with rovers.

[ultrablue]

The facts as I see them:

6) It seems Ince has no idea how he is going to do that either.

Think this is a little bit harsh - Ince has probably been planning from day one how he is going to handle losing Bentley, it will have been top of his agenda. Just because we don't get to know via various sages and muses precisely what Ince is thinking doesnt mean he won't come up with a good replacement.

The only yard stick right now is the purchase of Robinson, which i believe will turn out to be fantastic. Solved the huge problem of replacing an ageing icon by buying the right player at the right time. I trust Ince will do the same again.

[hawkiiz]

a tad funny how rovers.co.uk just informed he left, but said nothing about a good luck or thanks for the service

[jim mk2]

4) Villa are leading the way with the treatment of Barry- I do not understand why Rovers simply did not brazen it out the same way with Bentley especially as £7m of the fee is heading straight out to Arsenal.

.

Correct for once, although the Rovers board wanted rid of Bentley in the end because he was causing so many problems.

Barry will now have to knuckle down and get on with career - would Bentley have done the same had he been forced to stay ?

[21 Rover]

Who do people suggest we sign? Realistic players only please, and none of your champ manager dreams.

There doesnt seem to be a massive choice out there - Larsson, Pennant, Lennon, Milner, Nakamura

[imy9]

Fee for Bentley is £15 million rising to £17 million, confirmed on the stock exchange by Spurs:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/t...pur/7530967.stm

[philipl]

Sorry for being right- JW did blink on the price at the end.

Typical Spurs practise is to write contracts so the add-ons cannot/will not be realised. The £2m add-ons are useless for this transfer window anyway.

So, Spurs have got Bentley for £15m and Arsenal will receive £6m now plus the £3m they already received making Bentley our new record signing at £9m.

More to the point, £9m net less about £1.5m cost of transaction and £20K of wages per week are back in the transfer pot which probably now stands at:

£10m cash generated from last year +

£ 3m WT donation+

£ 7m Bentley surplus -

£ 1m net cost on Friedel/Robinson -

£ 4m set aside for Carlito

So £15m available for transfers with probably about £70K a week headroom in the wages budget before wages start reducing the transfer pot.

[The Prof.]

Sorry for being right- JW did blink on the price at the end.

Typical Spurs practise is to write contracts so the add-ons cannot/will not be realised. The £2m add-ons are useless for this transfer window anyway.

So, Spurs have got Bentley for £15m and Arsenal will receive £6m now plus the £3m they already received making Bentley our new record signing at £9m.

More to the point, £9m net less about £1.5m cost of transaction and £20K of wages per week are back in the transfer pot which probably now stands at:

£10m cash generated from last year +

£ 3m WT donation+

£ 7m Bentley surplus -

£ 1m net cost on Friedel/Robinson -

£ 4m set aside for Carlito

So £15m available for transfers with probably about £70K a week headroom in the wages budget before wages start reducing the transfer pot.

Will we pay for Carlito this year (or never)?

What about the 0.5m for Joe Garner. - could be another £3m there.

[Majiball]

Did Bentley hand in a written transfer request???

[Sparky Marky]

40% to Arsenal....What a shambles....which wally negotiated that.? I thought 10%, maybe 20% tops would be sufficient.

[The Prof.]

40% to Arsenal....What a shambles....which wally negotiated that.? I thought 10%, maybe 20% tops would be sufficient.

It's a lot isn't it - was anyone else interested in him at the time? I thought he'd flopped at Norwich.

[21 Rover]

Still no confirmed numbers to prove this 40 or 50% sell on - dont believe everything you read in the papers!

[Rovermatt]

Looks like Rovers have been diddled again when it comes to negotiating contracts. Perhaps some new solicitors should be engaged.

[RibbleValleyRover]

Wondering what crap he will come out with at the unveiling shortly?

Something to stroke the ego of Spurs fans probably.

[Sparky Marky]

Too right....we always get the ###### end of the stick. To agree to such a large percentage when the boy had been here on loan for a good while is a disgrace.

[Jonnolad]

So, Spurs have got Bentley for £15m and Arsenal will receive £6m now plus the £3m they already received making Bentley our new record signing at £9m.

I'm not sure Bentley cost us £3m at first - all the reports I've seen have him down as £1.5m at most.

That said other reports have Arsenal getting £7m, so he would still be our record signing.

[Rob of the Rovers]

I would never criticse those young, ambitious players who choose to move on from the Rovers to bigger and better things, even if they do so for financial reasons. Good luck to them, I say. The likes of Duff and even Shearer and Neill left at the right time for them personally, whilst the club made a lot of money.

However, I can't help but think that Bentley has made a mess of his Ewood departure. When he first told Hughes and Williams that he wanted to leave, does anyone seriously think that he was eyeing up a move to Spurs? Of course not, he wanted a big four club. If he or any of his advisors had any sense, they would have realised that it was a year too soon for him as a footballler, added to the fact that none of the big four required a player of his type this Summer.

So he should have signed a new contract (seemingly for more money than Spurs are paying him!), continued his excellent development, got a regular England place and I have no doubt that Williams would happily have let him go to Liverpool, Chelsea or United next Summer.

Anyway, thanks for your stellar contribution over the last two seasons David, but I have to say I'm looking forward to Spurs again finishing in the lower middle table